Molecular beacon design for rapid and efficient identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA species in COVID-19 patient samples

Due to the health emergency caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the face of a possible rebound or chronic disease scenario, the development of tools that facilitate the detection and monitoring of patients susceptible to infection by the disease is urgently needed. SARS-CoV-2 virus. This project aims to generate an alternative, rapid and sensitive test for the direct detection of virus RNA species from human samples, in order to simplify the times, costs and experimental complexity required for the current diagnosis of COVID -19. To this end, this proposal contemplates the design of a battery of fluorescent molecular beacons and the use of scalable fluorimetric analysis through the use of signal amplification technology by nicking enzyme (NESA), in order to carry out a direct identification. , effective and low cost of different species of coronavirus RNA in human samples.